BlackRock Agrees to Buy Panama Canal Ports as Trump Continues Threats

BlackRock, America’s largest asset manager which handles over $11 trillion in assets, has agreed to purchase two ports on either end of the Panama Canal. BlackRock is buying the ports from Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison in a deal worth about $22.8 billion.

The announcement of the deal comes as President Donald Trump has made threats against Panama over China’s involvement in the canal. The president has said the U.S. never should’ve handed over control of the canal in the 1970s after building the canal in the early 20th century. And Trump has even suggested the canal would be taken by force in necessary.

Trump boasted in an address to Congress on Tuesday night that the U.S. was “reclaiming the Panama Canal,” without giving details about who was actually buying the ports there.

“Just today, a large American company announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal and lots of other things having to do with the Panama Canal and a couple of other canals,” Trump said.

The part he left out? BlackRock is doing the buying, a company that’s not too popular with Trump’s base. The far-right often casts BlackRock as part of a “globalist” cabal controlling the world, commentary that often surfaces anti-semitic memes about Trump’s business connections.

“It was given away by the Carter administration for one dollar, but that agreement has been violated very severely,” Trump said, referring to the 1970s hand-off. “We didn’t give it to China. We gave it to Panama and we’re taking it back.”

As CNN notes, the BlackRock deal also includes interests in 199 other berths in 23 countries, though none of those ports have the same geopolitical tensions as the Panama Canal right now.

The co-managing director of CK Hutchinson, Frank Sixt, said in a statement posted online that the deal was the result of a “rapid, discrete but competitive process in which numerous bids and expressions of interest were received.” Sixt went on to describe the deal as “compelling” but insisted it had nothing to do with the current geopolitical tensions between the U.S., China, and Panama.

“I would like to stress that the Transaction is purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports concerning the Panama Ports,” Sixt insisted. “It must be noted that, however, the Transaction does remain subject to confirmatory due diligence, settlement of definitive documentations, and normal and usual completion procedures, adjustments and conditions as well as compliance by HPH with the rights of minority shareholders under existing shareholders agreements relating to the Sold HPH Interests.”

Blackrock CEO Larry Fink said in a press release posted online by CK Hutchison that he was “thrilled” about the investment. “This agreement is a powerful illustration of BlackRock and GIP’s combined platform and our ability to deliver differentiated investments for clients,” Fink said. “These world-class ports facilitate global growth. Through our deep connectivity to organizations like Hutchison and MSC/TIL and governments around the world, we are increasingly the first call for partners seeking patient, long-term capital. We are thrilled our clients can participate in this investment.”

Will BlackRock’s purchase of two ports at the Panama Canal be enough to please Trump and stop him from threatening the country with military invasion? That part isn’t clear yet. But even if it is, Trump still has plenty of other allies he wants to invade, including Greenland, Mexico, and Canada.